Centering and grounding

Chapter 15

Centering and grounding

In previous chapters, we spoke about the chakras and energy channels, which in principle form a ‘holistic’, balance-seeking, and self-regulating system. Actually everything in our energy-system is aimed at connection Kundalini- and cosmic energy, in order to to let this energy circulate through the space of the physical body and also around it, through the other layers of energy and consciousness. If this whole process is characterized by harmony instead of dividedness, we form a whole of body, soul and Spirit; that personal wholeness can then become one with the great Totality of all that is.

   For this purpose, the first thing necessary is that our bundled energy shines through our individual entirety; subsequently, our chakras should come into joint vibration. Therefore, the emphasis of consciousness and energy should not be in just one of the chakra’s; this would lead, as we already mentioned, to all sorts of one-sidedness and disharmony. The search should be for a centre from where the energy-centres and –connections can ‘tune’ into one another. In the previous chapter we discussed that it should be a place from where we can breathe, so that our forces can be joined from there.

Some approaches to spiritual development state that we do not need a centre, but from an energetic viewpoint, this is not correct. In order to coordinate our entire energy-system we need a centre that unites the first five bodies; the physical body, the etheric body, the astral-, the mental- and the spiritual or causal body.

 Once the first five bodies form a coherent unity, we can integrate the sixth and seventh body into our self-awareness: the cosmic and the nirvanic (or ‘atmic’) body, both of which are without shape. The cosmic body is the one infinite Being (energy- or radiation field), and the nirvanic body, is the one Space (or, for those who prefer: the Emptiness). After all we have previously discussed in this book so far, it will be clear that there are severe disadvantages associated to entering the cosmic and nirvanic dimensions without previous alignment of the first five bodies.

 We would only and just temporarily, move the accent of our awareness. If there is no alignment between these first five layers of consciousness and energy, the energy would spread out too strong, and you cannot or hardly integrate the experience of the sixth and seventh body with functioning as an individual in the earthly, social dimension. Under these circumstances, you could possibly have a healing experience after which you would fall back in a state of dividedness. It even happens that such an experience frightens a person, confuses him or her; hence again this could result in the loss of his or hers expanded state of consciousness.

   To summarize: until the first five bodies have flourished, are being experienced consciously and are connected together, we need a centre.  From this centre we should literally stand firmly with both feet on the ground, or rather: our feet should be rooted in the earth beneath us.

The hara point

The centering value of breathing from hara is known in the Far East. With this Japanese word they actually refer to the total lower abdominal area, nevertheless there is a specific hara-point from where you can inhale to be present in- and from ‘hara’: this point can be located at three horizontally kept fingers below the navel. The inhalation from this hara-point provides a strong feeling in the lower body and a certain feeling of relaxation in the area above it. This is already better than what happens when the centre of inhalation lies higher, above the navel, at the lowest point of the sternum or even higher. As we stated previously: the higher the point of inhalation from where you breath in, the more tension you built up – and the more restorative work the potentially disrupted Kundalini would have to do.

   In fact, the hara-point is located within the sphere of influence of the solar plexus chakra. It is situated just on the ‘edge’ where the area of this chakra passes over in the depth of the pelvic source, which is under management of the sacral- and root chakra. We are through breathing from the hara-point, more decisive and it is easier to learn to keep both our feet firmly grounded, however, this still remains dependent on our willpower. At the same time this means that we have not yet let go of the wanting, effort making and keeping control from this point. The relaxation that is possible from here cannot yet deepen itself to surrender, which is what it is all about on the spiritual path.

The ways in which the Kundalini- and Cosmic-energy are to be put to use remains under control of the intentions kept by that person.

   Moreover it is clear that, if you carefully observe what happens within yourself, you will find that breathing from the hara-point only promotes the flow of energy to the elbow joints and knees. This has to do with the fact that your concentration from the hara-point (with the intention to surrender, for instance) does not yet have an immediate influence on the circulation through the meridians or nadi’s (with their extensions spreading out to the fingers and toes). Furthermore the circulation of energy all through the extremities (hands and feet, fingers and toes, limbs) of the body depends on complete exhalation; and someone who still wants something, often does not really fully exhale.

  That is why it is not without reason in practices that recommend breathing from the hara, preparatory bodywork is usually done before meditation starts. For instance, those who practice Zen, are usually invited to combine their practice with grounding movement exercises – and to combine sitting in silence with meditative walking. That is, given the fact breathing takes place from the hara-point, correct. Anyway the recommendation is to combine meditation with walking, and in practises where breathing takes place from an even higher point - for instance, if pelvic source breathing is not even recommended - it is in a sense necessary to do bodywork and to walk, if only because otherwise too much energy would push itself upwards. However, what is necessary, is for you to ‘centre’ yourself at a location where your attention, the respiration movement and the flow or radiation of your energy can become one.

The Chi-point

In various approaches of Chinese origin the chi-point is known, which is situated a ‘floor’ lower than the hara-point. The location of the chi-point is usually referred to as ‘seven horizontally kept fingers wide below the navel’ or at ‘three fingers width above the pubic bone’, which amounts to the same. For example, in the West, tai chi and chi-kung (qi-gong) teachers invite their pupils to breathe from this point. However, not every teacher knows the chi-point, there are those who wrongly state that this is the same point as the hara-point.

   It is not difficult to perceive if the abdomen expands or not, during inhalation from this point – at 3 fingers width above the pubic bone.

You can clearly feel this by placing your hands just above the pubic bone, pointing your pinkies towards your groin, putting the ring fingers against the top of the pubic bone and resting the other fingers against it; the chi-point is then situated behind the index finger tips. But it can take practise to truly learn to breath this way, since there can be much resistance towards the ‘descending’ in-, and the conscious inhabitation of the pelvic space. This is to be expected, since this is also the place where one typically hides the deepest darkness in oneself.

   The place in the abdominal wall is actually just a way to find the right point – not a point in the mathematical sense of the word but in the sense of place and space. Although this place is located at the height of these three fingers widths above the pubic bone, it is actually behind that point, deep in the cavity of the abdomen, from approximately two centimetres in front of the sacrum until right against the front side of the sacrum, at the height of the intervertebral disc between the second and third fused sacral vertebra (the sacrum consists out of five sacral vertebra fused together).

   When you inhale from this point, something starts to shine there, like a fountain. 

As described in the previous chapter, energy is being released from the cavity of the sacrum, 

where at the same height a fusion of Kundalini- (yin) and Cosmic energy (yang) can take 

place. This is always possible, because the silver thread – however minimal -  shines through 

the sacrum. Through breathing in this way, you stimulate it as well. In principle, the energy 

radiates via the chi-point to the front but can radiate all around from this point throughout the 

entire pelvic area, and expand from there. Indeed at the same time the meridians start to 

open, in the sense that the flow of chi becomes more generous. This is also still dependent 

on whether or not full exhalation is achieved; anyway, the difference is fully noticeable when 

you follow the flow in the meridians with your attention.

Something very typical happens: the flow of energy is not stimulated by will but by simply 

going along with your attention. It is not even necessary to know the exact course of the 

meridians, although it is helpful to use specific points for orientation. At these points it is felt if 

the energy flows through, if you are letting go from there and ‘open up’, become permeable.

There is also a reverse effect: by staying for some time with relaxed awareness in certain 

areas, you ‘invite’ the energy to go there. If for instance, you bring your awareness to your 

feet, energy from the pelvic area will flow towards that area. For the same reason, to maintain 

the flow downwards, it is also helpful to walk or massage your feet.

Dancing is also a very stimulating activity, as long as you enjoy conscious contact with the 

dance floor. In certain areas a ‘mirror’-effect takes place, a sort of non-local resonance, as 

also known in for example foot reflexology massage. The soles of the feet mirror, among other 

things, the pelvic bottom (perineum) and the skull roof, the sit bones for instance have a 

direct connection with the heel bones, and so the last ones can immediately shine as well, as 

the sit bones are being included in the radiation from the chi-point and tailbone.

Experiencing yourself as energy

If we inhale the correct way, from the chi-point, and from there exhale calmly and regularly, the energy will gain access to areas in the body that were previously closed off, shut, and not passing through energy and awareness. What one does in acupuncture with needles or via electrical stimulation, and what in Shiatsu (Japanese pressure point massage) or acupressure is done with hands and fingers, can also be accomplished from the chi-point with your awareness – or much rather: to let it happen, ‘let it be possible’. Through meditative practice, from this point, going along with the flows within yourself, awareness, breath and the flow of energy become one.

 In the first place this is a great help to let go of what does not belong in you: tensions, blockages, tiredness, pain, emotions, deep fears and excess energy, even from your head, where an overflow of energy could otherwise be turned into circulatory ego thinking. In the second place you can get to know your ethereal body, which is built up of the chakras (of which there are far more than the well known seven) as well as the energy channels (meridians, nadi’s). Breathing from the chi-point also helps you to recognize all that you feel, all that you observe in yourself, as an energy phenomenon. This is an important step on the road to expansion of awareness - not by directly concentrating on the development of higher chakra’s or becoming aware of the other energy layers outside the body, but by bringing your attention deeply into the physical body. The ethereal body can only be known from within, not from outside.

   It is for this reason that the existence of this energy body has escaped the attention of Western medicine for a long time, whereas the centres and connections of the ethereal body in for example Chinese medicine teachings form a central part. Even now many Western doctors still turn their back to acupuncture through lack of incomprehension and -awareness.

Whilst these days, regular healthcare professionals do make use of equipment to screen (electro)magnetic signals of the body, the ethereal body is not recognized as a real existing layer of awareness and energy. In the meantime (electro)acupuncture at times reaches spectacular treatment results with disorders that Western medicine do not know how to approach.

   As long as we move with open eyes – for instance when practising tai chi – our brain continues to provide us with the usual image of our body. However, when we, breathing from the chi-point, draw our attention deep within we can clearly (learn) to feel where it flows or not, within ourselves. This way we can learn to let go much deeper and experience ourselves as being energy, as an energy field that also stretches beyond the skin. Physical relaxation appears to be the key.

   In a variety of approaches for healing and awareness-building, this concept is either directly or indirectly made use of, like in the meditations of chi kung but also in Kum Nye, a meditative approach originating from Tibet. In these teachings however, breathing is not always done from the chi-point, whereby the process of becoming whole yet remains limited. Especially with westerners, who typically inhale much too high and exhale incomplete, blockages will remain that are not being released deeply enough.

    In the worst-case the flow will be improved through treatment or practise of meditation, but centering still takes place, more or less, in the solar plexus area. In this way, the thinking, emotional and desirous ego will not be let go of but instead is strengthened and hardened. This result can sometimes be noticed in Western practitioners of Taoist yoga as taught by Mantak Chia, which is in itself a valuable approach (also known as Healing Tao) that actually should not accommodate the ego but the actual Self. However, in meditative relaxation without inhaling from the chi-point, the body will still be influenced by the ‘I’ – even if the ‘I’ thinks to want to let go. If there is a disrupted Kundalini or activation of too much energy, this often leads to some letting go and, in turn, holding on to again, and the typical shaking movements, vibrations and discharges.

Connecting your centre with the earth

In the approach for body-orientated healing meditation, as introduced by the Dutch teacher Hetty Draayer, breathing from the chi-point is the first requirement. In her relaxation and visualisation exercises you’ll first be invited, during the exhalation, to descend into the area of your pelvic source by, if it were, gliding along with your attention. This brings you to the depth of the pelvic area that goes together with a deeper layer of awareness in which you can also relax deeper. Then, it is a question to let the inhalation from the chi-point become ‘round all around’. This implies that the inhalation does not just expand the abdominal wall, but can also be felt at the rear side of the body, in the area located just above the bum and into the bum crack, and through the anus further to the front, through the perineum between the sit bones. The intention is for the breath itself to cause the expansion in this area; the bottom moves along without the use of muscles in the pelvic area. The only muscle used for breathing movement is the diaphragm muscle; that seems to expand itself from the bottom edge of the chest towards the pubis. Those who exercise this will get the feeling that this muscle becomes longer. It is important to not squeeze off the ring-like muscle around the outlet of the rectum, since this could halt the letting go from the entire upper body downwards and so the root chakra can radiate less towards the perineum and earth.

   Breathing this way will create a ‘basin’ of energy, in which the chi-point radiates. This energy form is called the ‘pelvic bowl’; the top edge of the basin rests on the left and right hipbones, and the bottom of the energy-basin comes together with the pelvic bottom skin, which becomes energy, transparent. As a result of this, the Kundalini-energy and the force that descends through the spinal column are not only blended together at the level of the chi-point but from several other points at the same time. Both lower chakra’s, the root- and sacral chakra will merge in this bowl with the chi-point in one radiation. In the approach of Hetty Draayer the hui yin-point located between the sit bones, on the ‘perineum’ between rectum and genital area, is considered as part of the sacral chakra.

  Chi-point and pelvic bowl shine together through the skin to the outside, as well as downwards through the pelvic bottom. The organs in this area, like the bowels, bladder and genitals, release their tensions and become rounder – everything gets space and becomes more transparent for the healing radiation. Complete areas of tension begin to release themselves. If the passage from pelvic source to the upper legs is not ‘sealed off’, the energy will also radiate in the upper legs and further on to the feet. And if you breathe like this whilst lying down, the radiation will also go through the back of the pelvic bottom into the ground. Excess energy is radiated all around, already during inhalation. And with the exhalation you continue to discharge everything, which does not belong in you.

  The pelvic bowl forms the ‘breathing middle’, where you come home in yourself, in your basis, the hui yin-point that unites the cycle in your upper body with the routes in your legs. By way of regular practice, the pelvic bowl will slowly radiate wider, all around: to the front and back, through the sides to the hipbones; going down, between and through legs and feet; and going upwards through the Sushumna. Upward rising tendency of the Kundalini becomes unnecessary because she comes to unification in the pelvic bowl with the descending force, but also because the radiation from the pelvic bowl upward is maintained in balance through its connection with the earth.

From both lower chakras and the entire pelvic bowl a connection emerges with the earth under the feet. This connection becomes deeper by giving attention to blockages that might still be present in our legs and feet, possibly as a result of not being ‘present’ in those areas.

 

 

The pelvic area, seen from the top, facing downwards in front of the spine.

At the bottom the ‘holy triangle’ of the lower tail vertebra with both sit bones. An important passage for (Kundalini-) energy from tailbone via sit bones to heel bones and to the earth beneath the feet. For this flow to the earth correct breathing is essential.

In the visualisation exercises both these chakras are connected together forming the ‘holy triangle’, from the lowest tailbone vertebra and both sit bones (with the hui yin-point in the middle of the base thereof, between the sit bones). This holy triangle forms a connection between the upper- and lower body, a passing portal for energy (the descending flow but also tensions, etc.) from the upper body through the legs and feet. The correct inhalation and the full exhalation will ensure that the energy passes through the toe tops and feet soles to the earth; also hands and finger tops will open and radiate.

   The holy triangle also allows for direct earthing of the Kundalini-source, on an energetic level – at least if legs and feet are permeable. The activation of this triangle is one of the first steps on the journey to awareness and healing that Hetty Draayer has made available. Blockages in legs and feet can be ‘worked through’ more fruitfully, based on this preparation by means of body-oriented, meditative exercises, in which many energy points and connections in feet and legs will be given attention.

Accepting the earth

Of course there are many more ways to ‘ground’ yourself, for instance by making use of your feet, being active with your body, specific treatments like acupuncture, shiatsu, reflexology massage etc. Keeping your feet lively and warm is of high priority – see hints and recommendations in chapter 20. Additional measures to become more present in your body again, until in the soles of your feet, can be very necessary if the connection with the earth has become too weak or seems to be lost entirely. In order to practise meditation it speaks for itself that you should not be too exhausted to keep your attention with the exercise.

‘Centering’ & ‘grounding’.

Based upon inhalation from the ‘chi’-point and the visualisation of the holy-triangle there is from three points – the lowest tailbone and both sit bones - via three soft orange energy streams a strong connection made with the ‘9^th chakra’ in the earth under the feet – a special ‘earth chakra’, red/orange coloured.

   However, ultimately with everything you do it is about the same restoration of the energetic connection between the Kundalini-source in the pelvis and the earth under your feet. Just as we described in the chapter on manic psychoses the ‘technical’, energetic side of that disruption, the connection pelvic source-legs-feet-toes-earth is the technical side of grounding. Centering by way of correct breathing is vital to this grounding - as soon as you breath in from a higher area, you actually work against yourself with all attempts to find firm ground under the feet. Grounding is more than ‘turning your attention inwards’ or ‘being active with your body’ as it is about the connection with the energy field of the earth that is literally located under your feet. However, centering and grounding extend into each other.

   The psychological side on lack of flow to below is lack of acceptance. If we do not accept our life on earth, the flow through the legs becomes obstructed – especially from the knees further down. We do not open ourselves to the earth and do not accept the earth – also we do not allow the energy radiating back from the earth inwards. ‘Closed’ feet and lower limbs cannot absorb the ground forces. Our complete energy system reflects an attitude of acceptance, resistance or a combination of these two.

   The first area where we withdraw ourselves from the earth when life is tough is at the ridge under the toes – right where the under sides of the toes extend out from the ball of the foot. Even when the toes are physically in contact with the ground, we pull them up internally if it were, like someone does who comes out of the shower and does not want his toes to get cold on the bathroom floor tiles. We then withdraw our attention and energy from the contact with the ground, and so the openness to the earth decreases. Those who do this often or long term, can even get cramped toes from doing so - this example speaks for itself; the cramping that starts on a psycho-energetic level manifests itself on the physical level.

Vice versa, people who start to exercise from the chi-point notice sometimes to their surprise that their toes straighten themselves in the course of some months.

   In the first place some people find it hard to accept that they have been born and are on earth altogether, other people do not accept the way in which their lives unfold, and yet others refuse to accept their current life circumstances. And then there are also people who resist their fate in all these aspects. If you notice this within yourself, you can do two things. You can tell yourself that now you really have to accept your life the way it is – if this is successful, the flow of life energy through your knees, lower legs and feet will improve. Or by means of breath-relaxation exercises you can work on restoring this flow. If this works your acceptance will increase. Also in this respect consciousness and energy are two sides of the same coin.

   It is of great value if we accept the earth under our feet, since the healing power of the earth is indispensible for our transformation process.  Once again: we are not here now without reason.